“Hush, I’m not going to hurt you. This is happening now. Don’t you think it’s about time?”
“I do, sweetie. Continue until you blow my mind.”
His hand slid from her breast, over her midriff, and he opened the button on her pants. He slipped his hand inside slowly until his fingers moved against her panties.
She needed his fingers against her flesh. “Darlin’—”
“What? Are you saying no?” He rose up to look into her eyes, but his fingers still moved.
“I’m saying yes.” She peered at him, but soon lost focus, and gave into the soft touch as he pulled her panties aside and found wetness waiting for him. “Please don’t stop.”
“I’m not about to,” he whispered.
Kimber rose to meet his lips as he took her away to where she lost all thought—indulging in his titillating movements—proving it with a rapid, fulfilled cry against his ear. She cupped his face and kissed him hungrily.
His lips escaped her mouth and went to her breasts, suckling again, and he cuddled her close against him, squeezing her breast. “I want you damn bad, sweetheart. Now.”
She cried out, “I want you more. Right now.” Kimber removed her blouse while he tore his t-shirt off. She undid his belt, the button, and yanked the zipper down, pushing the jeans to his hips. She glanced at him, all of him, and she whispered, “Take them off.”
She removed her jeans as he removed everything he had on. She tingled from the climatic release he’d given her moments ago, and her whole body felt relaxed yet excited, and ready for more. Ready. Zach rolled on a condom, and slowly removed her panties—his eyes all over her, but she rushed him to get them off her. She could barely wait and encouraged him on, pressing against the length of him, but he took her that quick, which was exactly what she wanted. Yes, yes… That quick! That quick he took her to the height she needed to reach with him. She tossed her head back against the pillow and arched her hips. Clenching the sheet, she breathed in and out through a blissful high.
“You feel so good, my love,” he moaned as he took her slowly through it. “Yeah. You’re my heaven.”
“I will be whatever you want,” she murmured while her heartbeat slowed. “Thank God. Finally.”
“Finally.” Zach lowered himself to his elbows, staring into her eyes while moving in a satisfying, sexy rhythm she matched. She couldn’t remove her eyes from his. They breathed in easy yet excited breaths. Her name rolled out on a sigh, “Kimber-r-r-r…” He collapsed atop her, but he didn’t stop kissing her neck, her ear, her throat. He peered at her breasts. “Beautiful,” he whispered before kissing and squeezing them both. “Ah, yeah… Heaven times ten.” Zach laid his head on her chest, mumbling, “You’re the best. Don’t ever let me leave you.”
“Don’t leave me.”
“Got it,” he whispered breathlessly.
“Whew-w-w-w…”
“You’re welcome.” They lay side by side and peered into each other’s eyes. “Where have you been all my life? Do you like old clichés?”
She kissed him then nodded. “I don’t know, Zach, but I’ve searched for you.”
“Yeah? Wow. That was as wonderful as I knew it would be. You know we’re doing it again.”
“Good.” Kimber relaxed with his arm around her midriff. “Thank you, Zach.”
“For what?” he asked. “Making love to you?”
“For making me need you because, baby, I do.”
He rolled to his back and brought her close. Kimber laid her head in the crook of his arm and ran her hand down his chest. His muscles tightened when her fingers ran over scars. “It’s okay.” She rose up to look at them. Her heart twisted. They looked like they’d been painful at one time. All of them on his abdomen, his thigh, and down to his knee and beyond. Tears welled inside of her. This was his story. She nearly cried to think of what he’d endured. He softly brushed her hand away. They fell asleep together.
Stormy barked from the living room, waking them. Zach jerked up, getting out of bed to put on his pants. His naked body was as handsome as his face. His tattoo went from his bicep up over his shoulder to land in a geometric triangle design on his shoulder blade. She got dressed but when she went to pull her blouse back on, Zach knelt behind her and cupped her breasts. “This definitely was not planned.” He whispered with his lips against the side of her neck. “Not planned for this moment, but it was definitely planned.”
She sighed intimately. “If it was, it probably wouldn’t have worked out. We should still plan the next time, like after dinner?”
“Yeah, Ms. Sinclair, I do agree. Let me see why the dog is barking.”
She finished getting dressed and met Zach in the great room. He had a glass of water in his hand. “What was it?”
“I don’t see anything. Maybe she wants to eat.”
Kimber chuckled at her excited tail wag and twisty body at the word eat. “It’s her dinner time. Come on, Stormy. Now that Mama is up, you can eat.” She hugged Zach. “Dinner here instead of going out tonight?”
“I wouldn’t miss it. Not with an invitation like I had a few minutes ago. And let me tell you, I can’t wait to eat.” His gaze drifted over her. All of her.
She shivered from her head to her toes, and jeez, her legs nearly collapsed when he licked his lips.
***
They’d had leisurely, and multiple, lovemaking sessions after dinner. For the second time tonight, Kimber had left the bedroom a satisfied woman. Zach bid farewell at the door. “Call me if you need anything. I don’t care if it’s the middle of the night.” Zach grinned. “Wow. You’re as amazing as I imagined in the waiting room.” They embraced again, standing there until they dragged themselves apart from each other. She didn’t close the door until he got in his truck.
She texted before he pulled away: You’ll never be fired from this place. Haha.
Zach texted back right away: But you can put me on fire anytime.
“Oh, no problem, handsome.” She sent him back a heart emoji and wanted to say, I’m falling in love. Was it something a woman said to a man like Zach? Instead, she texted: I can’t wait to do more exploring on your body. I want to discover every place where my touch excites you.
She laughed when he texted back about ten exclamation marks in a row. Kimber locked the door and set the alarm then went to the window to watch him drive down the road. She sat on the couch, visualizing them in bed together. Her phone rang, disturbing the moment. Not Melinda again. Kimber hadn’t answered earlier during round two. “Hello.”
“Hi, I tried calling, but you didn’t answer. Are you all right? Were you outside?”
“I haven’t checked my phone. I’m fine. What do you want?”
“Do you have company?” Melinda got right to her point this time.
“No, not now, why?” Oh no. What if she had planted real cameras in the house?
“I thought I heard someone in the background.”
“No, I’m alone.” Dear God, would she have gone as far as spying on her? The outside cameras were a farce, so why would she put real ones inside? She peered around for anything out of place.
“Okay, I wanted you to know I got home safe.”
“Thanks, Melinda.” She should’ve been home hours ago. “By the way, what was the name of the company who did the cameras?”
“People I know. Jerry knows them too. That’s all I can say.”
“I understand.” Like hell she did. If Melinda chose to think she was an idiot, let her think it. This was one more thing to anger her.
“Sleep well tonight, and don’t worry about anything.”
“Thank you.” She had everything to worry about these days. Why hadn’t Jerry called her back?
“I’ll check the cameras regularly even though they’re monitored twenty-four hours a day. See you in a day or two.”
The liar got caught in a lie. “No, Melinda. We’re done. You won’t be staying at my house. Bye for good.” She disconnected, set her phone down
, and brushed her hands against each other. “There. That’s done.”
Chapter 18
Before settling in, Kimber strode out to see the horses. “Honey? Hey, girl. Honeycrisp!” Kimber darted into the stall and knelt beside her on the floor. “Come on, get up.” She wouldn’t. Her breathing seemed labored. She called Zach without thinking about who else to call.
“Hey. Do you miss me already?”
“Yeah, but was Honey okay the last time you saw her?”
He turned down the volume on the radio. “Yeah, what’s wrong? I haven’t seen her since before I saw you. Why?”
“She’s lying down and won’t stand.” Kimber dashed to her food basket. “She hasn’t eaten all her food.”
“Try to get her to stand. I’ll be there. I knew I shouldn’t have left tonight.”
“I wish you hadn’t.” She’d wait for Zach before dialing the vet. He had a familiarity with horses at home, and had to be knowledgeable with their illnesses. Honey grunted and moved around. “Whoa, girl.” She dialed the vet’s number with worry after seeing her distress. Jewel answered. Kimber clasped the necklace she’d put back on. “Something is wrong with my horse, Jewel. Can you or Bill come to check on her?” She explained her symptoms.
“We’re free now. Yeah, we’re on our way.”
Kimber hung up. She checked on Major. His food basket was nearly empty, and he seemed fine. “Good boy. You better not be sick.” She marched back to Honey and dropped to the floor beside her. She placed her hands over her own rolling stomach. She smoothed her fingers through her mane then put on her harness, coaxing her to get up. “Come on, girl. Get up.” She rushed out to meet Zach when he arrived. “What could be wrong with her?”
“Did you call the vet?”
“Yeah, they’ll be here. She’s been moaning, otherwise I would’ve waited.”
“I’ll check her respiration and heart rate.” Zach peeked at Major and looked in his feed basket. In Honey’s stall, he removed her food basket, then he checked her gums for color. “That all looks okay.”
Zach knelt and ran his hands over the horse’s legs and body. Kimber spotted a gun in a holster at Zach’s back. Her breath caught. “You have a pistol?”
He glanced up at her. “Yeah, a couple. You have a problem with it?”
“No. I have one.”
He met her gaze with a furrowed brow. “Hmmm. I don’t feel any swelling in her legs, but there’s tightening in her rump, which could indicate pain. Like I said, she seemed fine when she came in this afternoon. Her pulse is a bit elevated. Not too bad.” He finished his minor examination. Not long after Zach arrived, Jewel and Bill drove up. Zach pulled Kimber away so Bill could look her over. Then he knelt beside the vet, explaining what he’d told Kimber and gave him the stats from his exam.
Jewel led her out of the stall. “I came by earlier today. You had outside lights put up, eh? Good idea. It gets dark around here at night. The old ones must’ve been taken down.”
“One light on a pole worked when it wanted to.” Kimber peered into her eyes. Jewel tried distracting her on purpose to get her mind off the horse. “They weren’t lights but security cameras. I know it sounds silly…” She had explained enough. “Hey, when you came by did you happen to get the name of the security company?”
“Well, no.”
Kimber peered into the stall to find Zach looking their way. He might as well hear. He’s the one who confirmed the lie. Kimber leaned against the stall wall for support and hugged herself.
Again, her gaze flicked to Zach who had turned away to observe Bill. “Um, do you remember what their work truck looked like, Jewel?”
Now Zach came to her side.
Jewel continued, “It was just a car. It wasn’t our local company, that’s for sure. Not anybody that I’ve met.”
“I know the men were friends of Melinda, who’s an acquaintance of mine.” Kimber blew it off as nothing. Zach had suspicions, but Jewel didn’t need to be brought into this.
Zach went back into the stall.
Kimber clasped her hands together. She smiled to cover her nervousness and entered the stall. “Do you know anything yet?”
He put his stethoscope away. “She hasn’t finished her feed. Looks like she’s splashed around some water.”
Kimber had a million thoughts at once go through her mind. Had Melinda given her bad food or too much while she had her test today? Would she do something so cruel? “Zach, when you were here with Melinda, did she go in the feeding room with you?”
“Huh?” He widened his eyes as he rubbed at the back of his neck. “In fact, yeah, I showed her around. She knew which feed went to what horse. You’re thinking she did—”
Kimber squeezed her hands together. “I don’t know but somebody did something. Did you leave her alone in there?”
Zach shook his head erratically. “I left before Melinda did. She’d planned on going into town.”
“She did go to town sometime.” But what had she done before leaving? Kimber grasped her head and strode in a circle. Oh, no. What did she do?
“Who’s this Melinda?” Bill had concern written all over his face.
“An acquaintance of mine.” Kimber strolled toward Major. He stuck his head out the opening and she patted him, assured he was okay. In the feed room, Kimber checked the feed bin. The quantity appeared to be lower, but Zach had fed her recently, so it would be lower. This was crazy.
“I drew blood,” said Bill. “We need to get her walking.”
Kimber ran back in, on the verge of screaming. “Am I going to lose my horse?” What a bad way to start out. She loved Honey.
“Not if I can help it. Has she had anything out of the ordinary?” Bill peered back and forth at them. “New feed? Is she eating good hay?”
“The same feed as always. Kimber has them on a schedule.” Zach clenched his jaw. “We buy the best hay available. Nothing in her food has changed according to Jake Lawton. The guy who lived here bought what we’re buying—what she’s used to.”
“It could be sand colic.”
Zach knelt and looked at Bill. “We don’t feed them from the ground, Bill. We have hay feeders outside and you see the mat in here.”
Kimber wrung her hands while Jewel assisted Bill.
Her mind scattered into different directions like a puzzle dropped out of a box. It sounded like she’d blamed Zach, which she hadn’t. This was likely her fault for leaving Melinda alone. “I don’t trust her.” Honey pawed at the floor with one hoof.
Zach attached a lead rope to her harness. Jewel and Bill exchanged glances. “Let’s get her up.” Bill, Kimber, and Jewel pushed to encourage her. “Come on, girl.”
“Get up, Honey.” Kimber’s voice quivered though she spoke low. “I tried to get her up earlier. She did the same thing. Come on, Honeycrisp. Let’s go, girl. We know what’s best for you, now get up.”
Honey got up, and Bill took her out of the stall. “Let’s get her to the corral.” Outside, Bill handed the rope to Jewel and turned to Zach. “It doesn’t look like you have a trailer around. Do you have a hitch?”
“Yeah,” responded Zach.
“Can you borrow a trailer? We don’t know if you’ll have to rush her to my place. Best to be prepared. I’ll see how she’s doing before I leave. If she goes down again, I’ll have to take her before you get back. Right now, it looks like nothing more than a mild bellyache.”
“A bellyache? That’s good. I can borrow a trailer. Let me make a phone call.” Zach left the corral while dialing. Stormy, who’d stayed out of the way in the barn, followed him out.
“He’s close to the Carlsons and even Jake. I’m sure he’ll get one,” Kimber replied. “I’m sorry, I’ve forgotten so much since college. There was a horse in my riding stable that had to have surgery because of colic.”
“It’s a possibility, Kimber. We’ll do some treatments and take care of her, so hopefully that won’t be necessary.” Bill patted Honey’s neck.
Za
ch came over to them and explained that Jake Lawton would lend him a trailer. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. I’ll take Stormy.”
Bill put his hand on his shoulder. “We’ll keep walking her.”
Kimber caught Zach’s arm before he got away. “Thank you so much. I don’t—”
“It’s not a problem, Kimber.”
Zach gave her a kiss then rushed away. He didn’t have to do any of this but he did. She closed her eyes and said a prayer. She relieved Jewel of walking Honey, speaking softly all the way around the ring, but she slowed her down and they stopped. She glanced at the sky speckled with stars. Please be okay, Honey. Zach returned while they waited in the ring.
Zach walked Honey back to her stall. She remained on her feet.
“Walk her around again tonight, Zach. Let her rest if she seems tired, but keep getting her up. Call if you need me.” He picked up his bag. “Someone will need to stay with her all night.”
“Not a problem.” Zach put his arm around Kimber to the widened eyes of Bill and Jewel. “I’ll get my brother to help out.”
“I’ll remain with you.” Kimber gave a sincere smile. Her heart swelled with respect and love for him.
Zach gave her a squeeze. “You don’t have to. Tyler will come over.”
“I need to do this. She’s my horse. I’ll stay with her.”
“We’ll take care of her, Doc.” Zach patted Honey. She was unable to hide her pleasure at him wanting to do this with her.
Jewel and Bill left the barn. She glanced back and smiled at Kimber.
“No offense,” said the doc, “but I hope I don’t see y’all tonight.”
“Thank you, Bill.” Kimber brought a chair into the stall and sat it behind Honey. “You want to take turns?” she asked Zach. “You can sleep on the couch. If you stay here a few minutes, I’ll go make some coffee and fill a carafe to bring out. I’ll take the first shift.”
“Go ahead. I’ll lie down in my truck a little while when you return.”
“No, go on my couch. Better yet, get in my bed…again.”
Finding Kimber (Canyon Junction; Hearts In Love Book 2) Page 24